Read Online A Workbook to Communicative Grammar of English by Dr. Edward Woods, Rudy Coppieters - Free Book Online
Authors: Dr. Edward Woods, Rudy Coppieters
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(simple) past tense refers to a definite time in the past and is identified by a past-time adverbial, the preceding language context or the context outside language.
• the past progressive refers to a past activity in progress or a state with limited duration.
• the (simple) present perfect refers to a past happening in relation to a later event or time. It is used for past events with results in the present time and for past indefinite events, past habits and past states (in a period) leading up to the present time.
• the present perfect progressive stresses the idea of limited duration and/or continuation of an activity up to the recent past or into the present.
• the past perfect refers to a time in the past as seen from a definite time in the past (= ‘past in the past’). It can be the past equivalent of both the past tense and the present perfect.
Task one **
Identify the verb phrases which refer to past time in the following texts, specifying for each
(a)
which of the above meanings is expressed
(b)
which verb form is used (in terms of tense and aspect).
Example: I have visited Canada . ⇒ have visited : past indefinite event – simple present perfect
A former teacher from Coventry, who was shot in the stomach at point blank range while on holiday in Turkey, has been awarded £495,000 compensation.
Mick Botterill was seriously injured when he disturbed a burglar at the holiday apartment in the resort of Side where he was staying with his wife and two teenage daughters in August 1996.
Mr Botterill, from Stoke Park, lost two litres of blood and needed two operations to remove the bullet, which had perforated his intestine and nicked his spinal cord.
(from the Coventry Evening Telegraph , 13 November 2001, p. 5)
Task two **
Use a simple past or a present perfect form (active or passive) in the following sentences.
1. TV and stage actress Peggy Mount (die) ____________ aged 86. The star (become) ____________ known to millions in the early ITV sitcom The Larkins .
2. Scotland (elect) ____________ its first Parliament in May 1999 while it (have) ____________ its own legal system for centuries.
3. Salman Rushdie (be) ____________ born in India but (spend) ____________ most of his life in Britain.
4. The Ramblers’ Association (found) ____________ in 1935 and (help) ____________ to develop the footpath network ever since.
5. Alcohol-related deaths (rise) ____________ by nearly half over the past five years, a report (warn) ____________ yesterday.
6. The ancient Greeks (think) ____________ pearls (create) ____________ when lightning (strike) ____________ the sea.
7. Environmentalists (make) ____________ significant progress in recent years: they (even succeed) ____________ in preventing further destruction of the coral reefs.
8. People (know) ____________ to die as a result of the fever they (contract) ____________ while travelling in the tropics.
9. Some artists (escape) ____________ the Soviet Union while others (send) ____________ to one of the gulags.
10. The current year (be) ____________ a bad one for the economy: one airline alone (shed) ___________ thousands of jobs and many other industries (have) ____________ to sack workers too.
Task three **
All three (slightly adapted) extracts below are from articles which appeared in various issues of The Independent in mid-2001. Rewrite them as if you were a journalist reporting in 2010 about states and events at the beginning of the decade.
Example:
Local chiefs stress that more food aid may be needed this winter to stave off famine .
⇒ Local chiefs stressed that more food might be needed that winter to stave off famine .
1. Rural communities feel their traditions are threatened as English people buy property at prices that are out of the reach of locals.
2. Police officers approaching retirement are to be offered more money to stay on for a further five years under new Home Office plans to retain experienced staff.
Supporters of the
• the past progressive refers to a past activity in progress or a state with limited duration.
• the (simple) present perfect refers to a past happening in relation to a later event or time. It is used for past events with results in the present time and for past indefinite events, past habits and past states (in a period) leading up to the present time.
• the present perfect progressive stresses the idea of limited duration and/or continuation of an activity up to the recent past or into the present.
• the past perfect refers to a time in the past as seen from a definite time in the past (= ‘past in the past’). It can be the past equivalent of both the past tense and the present perfect.
Task one **
Identify the verb phrases which refer to past time in the following texts, specifying for each
(a)
which of the above meanings is expressed
(b)
which verb form is used (in terms of tense and aspect).
Example: I have visited Canada . ⇒ have visited : past indefinite event – simple present perfect
A former teacher from Coventry, who was shot in the stomach at point blank range while on holiday in Turkey, has been awarded £495,000 compensation.
Mick Botterill was seriously injured when he disturbed a burglar at the holiday apartment in the resort of Side where he was staying with his wife and two teenage daughters in August 1996.
Mr Botterill, from Stoke Park, lost two litres of blood and needed two operations to remove the bullet, which had perforated his intestine and nicked his spinal cord.
(from the Coventry Evening Telegraph , 13 November 2001, p. 5)
Task two **
Use a simple past or a present perfect form (active or passive) in the following sentences.
1. TV and stage actress Peggy Mount (die) ____________ aged 86. The star (become) ____________ known to millions in the early ITV sitcom The Larkins .
2. Scotland (elect) ____________ its first Parliament in May 1999 while it (have) ____________ its own legal system for centuries.
3. Salman Rushdie (be) ____________ born in India but (spend) ____________ most of his life in Britain.
4. The Ramblers’ Association (found) ____________ in 1935 and (help) ____________ to develop the footpath network ever since.
5. Alcohol-related deaths (rise) ____________ by nearly half over the past five years, a report (warn) ____________ yesterday.
6. The ancient Greeks (think) ____________ pearls (create) ____________ when lightning (strike) ____________ the sea.
7. Environmentalists (make) ____________ significant progress in recent years: they (even succeed) ____________ in preventing further destruction of the coral reefs.
8. People (know) ____________ to die as a result of the fever they (contract) ____________ while travelling in the tropics.
9. Some artists (escape) ____________ the Soviet Union while others (send) ____________ to one of the gulags.
10. The current year (be) ____________ a bad one for the economy: one airline alone (shed) ___________ thousands of jobs and many other industries (have) ____________ to sack workers too.
Task three **
All three (slightly adapted) extracts below are from articles which appeared in various issues of The Independent in mid-2001. Rewrite them as if you were a journalist reporting in 2010 about states and events at the beginning of the decade.
Example:
Local chiefs stress that more food aid may be needed this winter to stave off famine .
⇒ Local chiefs stressed that more food might be needed that winter to stave off famine .
1. Rural communities feel their traditions are threatened as English people buy property at prices that are out of the reach of locals.
2. Police officers approaching retirement are to be offered more money to stay on for a further five years under new Home Office plans to retain experienced staff.
Supporters of the
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